The Australian and English women’s Test team kicked off the women’s Ashes one-off Test at Taunton on Thursday (July 18). England pacer Anya Shrubsole on Friday praised Australian batting during the evening session of Day One of the one-off Test in the ongoing Women's Ashes. England are sweating over fitness threat as their two key players Sophie Ecclestone and Tamsin Beaumont suffered injuries on Day One. The only Test witnessed five debutants - Tayla Vlaeminck, Ashleigh Gardner and Sophie Molineux for Australia, and Amy Jones and Kirstie Gordon for England. Australia had won the toss and elected to bat first in an all-important Test that offers four points to the winning side and two points each if drawn. England trail Australia by six points as the visitors had whitewashed the hosts in three-match ODI series.
Here are five players to watch out for in the series.
Nicole Bolton - Australia
Nicole Bolton came into the spotlight on the international cricket scene in 2013-14 after scoring a century against England in her one-day international debut. Her 124 runs against England is the highest score by an Australian women on her debut match. Before her international selection, Bolton scored over 1,000 runs in the domestic scene. In 2018, she was part of the Australian Women’s cricket team which won the fourth ICC World T20 championship.
Ashleigh Gardner - Australia
An aggressive middle-order batswoman, Ashleigh Gardner in her career has made all the right noises. In 2015, Gardner made headlines after she topped the runs tally at Australia’s under 18 championships. She is the first woman player to be felicitated with the prestigious Lord Taverners Indigenous player of the year award.
Kirstie Gordon - England
Before switching nationality in 2018 Kirstie Gordon represented Scotland. She made her cricket debut with Scotland women's national cricket team at the age of 14. She played for Scotland in the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier in February 2017. She made her cricket debut for England against Bangladesh in Women's Twenty20 International Cricket. In 2018, ICC named her as one of the five breakout stars in women's cricket.
Amy Jones – England
Amy Jones made her debut for the England team in 2013. She has amazing batting skills and in the year 2019, she has scored 415 ODI runs. She plays as a wicket-keeper for Warwickshire. Jones is the holder of one of the first tranche of 18 ECB central contracts for women players.
Sarah Taylor - England
Sarah Jane Taylor has played a prominent role in the domestic cricket that earned her the selection to the international scene. In 2008, she became the youngest woman cricketer to score 1,000 ODI runs. In 2017, in ICC Women's Cricket World Cup she set the highest record for 2nd wicket partnership.
(With inputs from ANI)
